Friday, August 16, 2013
Just as in other areas of health care, the landscape of health care communications is changing rapidly. In a very short time, the way people connect and how they consume information has been transformed.
That was the theme for Tuesday’s Leadership Health Care Fundamentals Series discussion featuring Jana J. Davis (senior vice president, Corporate Affairs, HCA), Kirill Goncharenko (president, Mercury) and Gary R. Koops (chair, Global Media Practice, Burson-Marsteller). The discussion was moderated by Trip Pilgrim (senior vice president and chief development officer, Vanguard Health Systems).
The panelists set the stage by exploring the nature of today’s 24-hour news cycle and the need for organizations to establish a shared-content strategy and a holistic approach to transmitting information. With 72 percent of adults using social networks and about 80 percent of patients looking up symptoms online before they see a doctor, health care organizations are putting more and more emphasis on reaching consumers on digital platforms including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, websites and others.
In addition to discussing external communications strategies, the panelists discussed how organizations are changing the way that they reach out to employees internally.
“It’s important to be open with employees and to seek diversity around the table so that you can understand the best ways to communicate with your staff. Make information easy to access in order to get your message across,” said Davis.
LHC’s Fundamentals Series introduces participants to a wide range of key health care industry topics that are relevant to up-and-coming industry leaders. For more information about Leadership Health Care, visit www.leadershiphealthcare.com.